Quote of the Day: Harry Wakefield on Philippe Starck
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.30.08
Philippe Starck, who has designed the half of all the stuff in the world that Karim Rashid didn't, is feeling guilty about it. He told Die Zeit: “I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact. Everything I designed was unnecessary. I will definitely give up in two years’ time."
Harry Wakefield of MocoLoco has better advice:
"Why don't you devote that substantial talent and media savvy of yours to making stuff that's smarter, more sustainable, and dare we say it, cool, in that gotta have it, materialistic way you know so well. Or is this really about clients who aren't quite ready to make the big changes required to create the smarter, more sustainable, cool design? Greenwashing got you down? It's not going to be easy. The world's top two most populous countries are now getting a taste for said stuff, so we're gonna make a lot more of it, most of it instantly disposable. You of all people could make a difference. Step up to the profession that served you so well, montre nous l'amour pour la planète Philippe." ::Mocoloco
See Treehugger: Phillipe Starck on the Role of Design , Philippe Starck on "Why Design?" at TED and Icon Chair by Philipe Starck
Sweet Jesus Marimba, Harry! Very well said, and I strongly doubt that Philippe Starck will be able to figure out that while it doesn't take much to regret something you've done, it takes a brave individual to try and make up for that act.
There was something in the Sunday Times "T" magazine about Philippe Starck recently, and I was completely unimpressed by what he's done so far as opposed to what he can do in the future. I'd like to see him use his clout to make ammends for the "unnecessary" crap he's inflicted on us. I'd also like to see George W. Bush exhibit higher brain fucntion, but I'm not gonna wait for that to happen either.
Well, Starck was quoted as saying he would give all this up in a book published by Taschen in 1996. As a design student at the time, his comments about materialism had a profound impact on me. But here we are now, 12 years later, and it doesn't seem he changed much of anything. So, thanks Starck, but it seems this is a publicity soundbyte. Too bad its working.
What a showman. It seems to me that shock soundbites like this are only another effort to maintain his bad-boy image. Starck has enough money; he can throw a boast like this out and suddenly a wealthy retirement becomes a moral revelation.
As the first poster mentioned, this will be more impressive if he takes constructive steps to fixing what he claims he feels 'ashamed' about.
Why wait two more years? For a guy who is so smart and so talented, took him 20 years to figure this out? Heck, I screamed it at him in South Beach in 1993... Not that it would have sunk in back then. Better late than never... I did like his lemon juicer.